


The God's Lullaby

by LadyNikolea



Series: Loki X OC [1]
Category: AntLord - Fandom, Mama Bear - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24325165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNikolea/pseuds/LadyNikolea
Summary: Anaeluna, a siren and a witch has been patiently waiting for her soulmate all her life, not aware that he was looking for her as well.  Set two years after the battle with Thanos, HYDRA comes to invade an island that has not only superhero children, but mutated one's. Their protector, the hero Lullaby tries to take them all on her own. They brought an army. Time to call in the Avengers. *I suck at summaries*
Relationships: Antlord - Relationship, Loki (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s), StarkStrange, supreme family - Relationship
Series: Loki X OC [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756138
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ElisaPhoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/gifts).



> This is set in ElisaPhoenix's Mama Bear AU but I put a soul-mate spin on it. Love her and her AU.

Anaeluna relished in the quiet, the world around her like a dark abyss of muted noise and color. As she lay in the darkness of the water she was submerged in, she thought about why she was here. She had been patiently waiting for her soulmate for the past 520 years. As a siren, it only made sense if her soulmate was another water creature like her, but as deep or as far as she traveled in the body of water she resided in, she never found another inhabitant. After 200 years of waiting, it became easier to give up on the search and just relish the peaceful nights, dreaming in the still, cold water she called home. She began to think of what she was going to have to do today, and considering she would be waking soon, it would be better to solidify those plans than to dwell on her missing mate any further. With a silent sigh, she swam further into the water and let her mind wander aimlessly until the whirlpool finally showed up to remove her from her blissful silence. 

Anaeluna woke in her bed, the sound of the birds outside of her window were a wonderful melody and she laid there for a minute listening to their song. Being half-siren required her to go into a body of water at least once a day, but being a witch, that was easily solved. With a flick of her fingers she began running the water in her bathtub and she slowly rose to begin her day. Wandering over to her bathtub, she magicked away her clothes and submerged herself into the water. Automatically the itch that always lay under her skin disappeared, her water turning the deep shade of blue-grey of her siren heritage. Once she had finally finished her bath, she excited the water and stood in front of the sink mirror on the opposite side of the room. Slowly she saw her flesh turn back to the pinkish hue of the human side of her heritage. Her eyes were the last things to change, their color going from completely black to humanoid whites surrounding hazel irises. The change always unsettled her, but she was used to it by now and left the room to dress herself. 

After finishing getting dressed she stepped out of the door to her small cabin. Living on a remote island off of the coast of Wales, she was greeted by a beautiful sea of green and blue, with small forests and meadows interspaced along the coastline. Every so often, the view would be broken up by a small cabin signaling the home of one of her students, each as unique as her. Her island was a safe haven, all magical beings were welcome to come and learn to control their powers with her, even if it was a simple mutation rather than full-blown magic, no one was turned away. 

After years of living on an island, with only her students and those that either chose to stay with them, or the animals they ended up adopting as familiars, she was a secret to almost all. The only people who knew of their existence were the Masters of the Mystic Arts, Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, S.H.I.E.L.D, and unfortunately H.Y.D.R.A., and Anaeluna took great precautions to keep it that way. The island itself was perfect for farming and had enough resources for them to be self-sustainable. Not needing to trade with the outside allowed for a sense of peace and secrecy that was perfect for those different from regular humans, though that did nothing to stop the inhabitants from reaching out to the outside world. Cloaked from outside eyes, unless you had visited the island before, one would not know how to reach it. There was no trade, no tourists, and a shield to block satellite views, though it certainly had a few perks that no one else would have thought an island this small would have. With the assistance of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-men, not only did they manage to have high speed internet, but they had their own cellphone tower to be able to communicate out of the island if they so choose to. 

Some of the older students had woken already and where on their way to the same meadow that Anaeluna was walking toward. They spent every morning the same way, meditating and talking to each other about what they were either worrying or dreaming about. Sometimes the topics turned into goals for the future. Some of those futures consisted of becoming a sorcerer with the Masters of the Mystic Arts or even attending Xavier’s school to refine their abilities. Anaeluna always listened and took their wants into consideration when it came to training each and every one of them. Each was different, some of them being elemental creatures, others telepaths, magicians, or even shapeshifters who all had varying personalities and Anaeluna could not have been happier being their teacher. 

Once she reached the center of the meadow, she called upon her power over the earth and made herself a comfortable moss-covered stump to sit on and began to meditate. If the children were able to call upon their magic to create a seat, most of them did so, but those that did not brought blankets or pillows specifically for morning meditation. One by one as they joined, they said good morning and received a nod from Anaeluna in return. Morning meditation was not a requirement, but most of the children, and even some of the human parents came to love the tradition and participated every morning. It was a relaxing start to the day and more often than not, the only reason someone would not show up is if they were sleeping off some exhaustion from the night before if training had been too draining. 

As the meditation continued, the familiars of those who were witches would wander in and begin curling around their bonded one and then settle at their side. Anaeluna’s familiar, a púca that loved turning itself into a small black cat, wound itself around her stump and sat quietly for a few moments observing the students. Then, in a deep voice that should not have been coming out of a small cat the creature spoke. 

“Looks like Idunna is still sleeping. She is the only one not here.” 

Keeping her eyes closed Anaeluna responded. 

“Yes, we hit a wall last night. Took a while to climb past it. I am not surprised she is taking the morning to rest. I will check on her later. Thank you, Keiran. 

For a while, no other noise was made, the tranquility a warm encompassing blanket that helped soothe any worries or fears and eventually one of the children voiced the first question. 

“Athrawes...I keep feeling a prickling under my skin...I don’t really know how to explain it...” 

Anaeluna opened her eyes, noticing other students doing the same and beginning to stretch out of their stiff positions. Her eyes quickly landed on the young boy that spoke, a small shapeshifter who so far had only learned to turn himself into a select few animals. His family was made of some powerful shapeshifters, but they were unable to keep him from shifting. The uncontrollable ability was exacerbated when he became emotionally distressed. The poor boy would be human one moment and the next he was a duck, or a mouse, unable to control himself enough to communicate, let alone shift back. 

“Klei, you know it is more than likely a new form. Do you have an idea what kind it might be?” 

Anaeluna watched Klei close his eyes and focus, knowing he was seeking the animal calling out to him. Each animal within him had a different voice, felt different instinctively, and they had recently been focusing on communicating with them more effectively. While Klei was still wary about shifting, afraid of not being in control, the animals within him simply wanted to help, and often had a mind of their own. 

“It feels strange. It’s a creature that longs to fly, but what I feel below the skin...the itch isn’t feathers. It is more like the shedding of scales...like a fish or a reptile.” 

With a raise of eyebrows, Anaeluna said nothing at first and stood from her stump, Keiran right behind her. With a small hiss, he turned himself into a snake and wound his way up her leg until he was at her hip. 

“Sounds like the family heritage is finally kicking in.” 

“Early at that, he isss still young. Too young.” Keiran replied to Anaeluna’s comment, moving from her hip to wind his way up her arm, turning into a gecko to stand at her shoulder. 

“THE DRAGON WANTS TO WAKE UP ALREADY?!” 

Klei’s panicked voice was high-pitched, his eyes wandering towards his peers which surrounded him on their stumps. None of them showed an ounce of fear. The parents, walking away from the situation to begin making breakfast, showed no concern for their children either. 

“Calm yourself Klei...” Anaeluna’s voice remained steady, “this is not the first dangerous creature you have transformed into.” 

“Sharks and wolves do not compare to this!” 

Klei was beginning to hyperventilate when Keiran leaped off Anaeluna’s shoulder and transformed into a miniature dragon in front of Klei. 

“Look at me boy, do I frighten you?” 

Klei looked at the dragon the size of a german shephard and almost laughed but all that exited his throat was a wheeze. 

“No, you look ridiculous.” 

The rest of the children began to talk amongst themselves. Following their teachers lead, they did laugh at Keiran all the while calling him cute and asking if they could pet him. 

“Now then,” Anaeluna’s voice cut through the noise grabbing her pupil’s attention, “why would you fear what lies inside you? It cannot hurt you. It cannot trap you. It IS you. All you have to do is decide to claim it. If you are not ready for that, that is fine. However, keep in mind that dragons are impatient creatures and hate to be kept waiting.” 

Klei knelt down in front of Keiran and began to pet him. Instinctively going for a spot beneath the chin that automatically made the dragon purr, the boy stayed quiet for a moment. 

“I don’t want to hurt anyone.” 

Anaeluna knelt next to the boy, her hand coming to rest on Klei’s chin, making him look up at her. 

“That is always a possibility, powers or no. Even I am capable of hurting others. Whether we choose to harm or protect is the only important decision. Would you rather attack or defend?” 

With a breath, Klei whispered defend and held his head high. With a nod to his teacher, he stood and walked toward where he felt most comfortable, the shore. With a quick look toward Anaeluna, Keiran nodded before following after the boy. 

“Athrawes, you are not joining them?” 

Anaeluna faced a young witch who’s blonde hair shone in the sunlight, her eyes following Klei with concern and envy. 

“No, Arina. Only a dragon can help a dragon. I would do more harm than good. If they need me, Keiran will let me know.” 

“I understand,” Arina said reluctantly, her worry for her friend evident. 

Visibly the flowers around Arina began to wilt, her magic flaring with the pull of her emotions. Julia, the girl closest to her, placed her hand on the affected girl’s arm to get her attention. When she had it, she pointed to the floor and Arina visibly recoiled and then closed her eyes to focus. Anaeluna simply watched the exchange, knowing her pupils could handle something so minor. 

“Feel better?” 

Arina visibly nodded before responding. 

“Yes, I'm just worried about him. I don’t want him getting hurt.” 

Julia took Arina by the arm and whispered, “well, if we don’t get too close or in the way I am sure that we would be allowed to watch if it makes you feel better?” 

Arina looked up at Anaeluna and asked if they could. Anaeluna nodded and told them to practice their lessons nearby, but to leave enough space to run away if needed. The girls nodded and walked away together to watch over their friend. As the girls retreated from the rest of the group, many of them began to practice their lessons with their own companions. A lot of it was summoning up the magic and holding it for as long as possible. Anaeluna made a point to focus on control before learning to master difficult lessons like combat. 

For the next hour or so, lessons continued as normal until the breakfast bell began to ring. Everyone then quickly packed up their belonging or removed whatever magic they had been working to head to the great hall. Several pops filled the air as teleporters vanished to either hurry to their places or to stop by their rooms to drop off whatever they were carrying. The hiss of portals filled the air for those that could work with magic and Anaeluna was always amused by the toss of objects with careless abandon as they ran to the hall. Humans shifted into things with more legs or wings and it seemed like chaos filled the air. Anaeluna would not trade this for the world, her students being one of the most important parts of her world. 

Once everyone who was going to be present was seated in the great hall, the teaching assistants were calling out assignments for the day. While Anaeluna overlooked the training for everyone, it was always important that more advanced students would be teaching novices so they could emphasize how important it was to learn control. Much like any other kind of teaching, learning from someone similar to the pupil who had already learned certain lessons was always easier than a seemingly perfect teacher. Not only that, but Anaeluna believed deep in her core that allowing those relationships to build naturally allowed for more trust and lessened the likelihood of accidents. This day was beginning to look like any other day when suddenly Klei, Arina, and Julia all burst into the great hall. 

“Invaders are approaching the island; their intentions are not good.” 

Anaeluna looked at Julia and asked, “H.Y.D.R.A.?” 

With a shrug but still worried she replied, “more than likely, they felt full of malice. The problem is that we are surrounded...Arina gave my telepathy a boost and I could feel them completely around the island.” 

“Keiran told us to run straight back here to tell you, then he flew off.” 

Anaeluna thanked her pupils and told them to grab something small to eat to replenish their energy. Then she faced the entire hall, “everyone, we prepared for this. Novices, get to the caves. The rest of you, get ready for war.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The avengers finally arrive on the island.

As her student’s burst into movement, Anaeluna opened portals to several different locations. The first one at the back of the room was to the caves that ran under the island. The novices and ordinary individual on the island, like the parents without powers or mutations, would remain in the caves. The caves were set up like a bunker, power still ran down there and one could only access the cave system by climbing up the abandoned lighthouse on top of the cliffs of the island. At the center, where a light should have been was actually a shaft that dropped for a mile belowground into the caves. Not only could the novices stay there for years, but they could also communicate with the outside world just in case they needed to call for assistance. 

The second portal to be opened was to the armory. Having lived on an island for so long, one had to be prepared for anything. In Anaeluna’s 112 years of living on this island, she had faced many battles from invaders that required her to smith weapons not only for herself, but for her students. H.Y.D.R.A. had captured her once for a year when World War I began, keeping her in a medically induced coma to keep her compliant for a while. Eventually she escaped, but they had been hunting her ever since. When they finally tracked her down to the island where she had set up her school, they wanted her students as well. As she held open the portal for her students to get through, Keiran landed on the roof and telepathically began explaining the situation. 

“We are completely surrounded. They brought an army. There are planes flying our way and I do believe I spotted a submarine or two. We are heavily outnumbered this time...” 

Keiran’s voice dropped out and Anaeluna could sense his worry through their bond. As her familiar, they could not lie to one another, Keiran did not think they would be able to fight off the enemy on their own. 

“I will contact Strange. Make sure the students and the rest of the familiars know their assignments. We need to buy time till our allies can come.” 

With a roar, Keiran was off to meet the pupils outside of the armory while also summoning the rest of the familiars. Anaeluna herself walked through the portal to the armory, closing it and taking in how the preparation were coming along. Being a blacksmith certainly came in handy when designing armor and weapons, and Anaeluna was no exception. Each pupil, once they reached a certain skill level with their magic or mutations were allowed to design their armor and weapons of choice. Anaeluna, born in the 15th century always encouraged actual armor than simply wearing clothing, providing training gear as they were being taught so they could figure out their own preferences. Some chose medieval battle plate, others samurai plate, there were plenty of students in leather, and some even went so far as to have bronze worked into their armor. Her students had their choices of Warhammers, staffs, swords, shields, bows and arrows, and various other bladed and non-bladed weapons. As she made sure to adjust armor pieces off her pupils, Anaeluna headed towards her own armor. Finely worked leather she made when she was younger and maintained throughout the ages, along with several blades that were placed all along her body completed a very different look than what she normally wore. 

Quickly she made her magic replace the current clothing she had with skintight under armor jumpsuit and carefully started placing her armor on her body. Cuirass, pauldrons, vambraces, greaves, and even a skirt with leather tassels completed the look with a pair of massive leather boots. The daggers and shorts swords she carried gave her an intimidating look without hindering her ability to move and that’s how she preferred to fight. Her pupils were all mostly dressed and outside by the time she was done preparing and she ran out to find Keiran and the other familiars all assigning students to different positions. 

The island itself was a basin about two miles across and 3 miles wide. Surrounded by cliff faces on all sides, if a boat wanted to land on the island, there was only a single beach they could arrive on. The archers would place themselves among the cliffs that bordered the majority of the island while the rest of the students would place themselves along the beach. If any of the familiars or students could fly, they would offer aerial protection. Anaeluna watched the interaction between them all for a few moments before she used her magic to make her way down to the caves. 

“Anaeluna,” one of the mothers in charge of communications greeted her, “what’s wrong?” 

“The island is surrounded; we are going to need reinforcements. Contact Stephen Strange, tell him a H.Y.D.R.A army is invading the island and we need assistance.” 

“Will do.” 

With that Anaeluna used her magic to go back to the surface where her magic was screaming at her that the shields were finally being attacked. Joining Keiran on the beach she observed her pupils and advised that the shields would be coming down in a moment. 

“I assume you called for reinforcements?” 

“Yes,” Anaeluna replied telepathically to her familiar’s question. “I will also be raising the shields behind the enemy once they enter. They will not leave this island alive.” 

“Aww, did they strike the wrong nerve today?” 

“It’s one thing for them to come after you or me, but an army this size means they plan on taking everyone. I will be damned if I let that happen.” 

Keiran smiled wickedly for a moment with pointed fangs, “what’s the plan? Rip them limb from limb? Set them ablaze? Ooh, should I eat them?” 

“Take care of the planes, the children and I can handle the forces below.” 

With a ruffle of his wings, Keiran exclaims “to the death, or at least dinner!” 

With a snort, Anaeluna watches her familiar fly off, drawing her sword and rallying the students with a war cry. Each of her students respond in kind, either with war cries of their own or those that can shapeshift letting out howls, roars, or screeches of fury. Letting down the shields surrounding the island, not only did the planes come flying in, but small speedboats off of the bigger ships made a mad dash for the island. Keiran’s roar resonated through the air, the archers along the cliffs preparing their bows and magic. As the ships and airplanes moved closer, Anaeluna and several of the water mages all pulled the water in closer, making the vehicles all come within the magical boundary of the island. Once the shields were put back into place Anaeluna reinforced them with spell that would only be removed if she left or died. 

Keiran flew above them screeching and then fire exploded from his maw, forcing the planes to deviate from their course. With a rapid turn, followed by a cheer from the students below, Keiran hurried behind the planes while the archers along the cliffs used their magic to start impeding the flight patterns. On the ground however, the first boats managed to hit landfall, super soldiers and even some enhanced quickly rushing the first line of students. With both her main blades out Anaeluna runs to meet the invaders, students right behind her. Right as the first wave of enemies hits, she uses her earth magic to knock some of them off her feet, the rest continue to rush forward. Swinging her blades up and around, she quickly fights her way through some of the soldiers before being forced to stop and face an enhanced with telekinesis. With the enhanced focusing on her blades, they never saw the water coming up to trap them in place and begin to drown. When the telekinetic hold finally leaves the blades, the enhanced is cut down without a second thought. Looking around, most of her students were in magic fights, or using shields to guard their friends. Those being guarded either used magic from a distance or were attacking with weapons of their own. 

Keiran roars and an explosion tears through the air, the first plane crashing close to one of the cliffs. The archers were shooting the boats to minimize the people who made it onto the isle. The beach was starting to go red with blood, and yet the enemies still kept coming. The bigger boats, unable to find another way onto the island began shooting up at the cliffs while attempting to circle around to the available beach. About 20 minutes pass when suddenly, Anaeluna can feel a magical imprint arrive that was not present on the island beforehand. Using an excessive amount of magical energy, she launches enemies into the air and back into the water and asks her students to make an ice wall to keep the enemy at bay for a small amount of time. Those that were able to use water and air magic would keep it reinforced for the ice mages and those who fought and shifted waited impatiently behind it. 

Anaeluna portaled to the lighthouse, Dr. Stephen Strange’s magic hissing through the air just as she arrived. When it opened, Stephen stepped out quickly followed by the Avengers. Before anything could be said however, Keiran let out another roar in warning, not only was he having trouble bringing down the other plane, the ice wall on the beach was weakening. 

“What the hell was that?” Tony asked, ducking slightly to look around the edge of the roof of the lighthouse. 

“That would be my familiar, thank you all for coming. As you can see, we are vastly outnumbered and outgunned.” 

“You called, and I always answer when you call Luna. You never call needlessly.” 

Stephen took in the rest of the view and noticed how dire the situation was. With a look to the rest of the team, they all deferred to him in judgement, even Tony. 

“Are there specialties for your team I should know about?” 

Tony replied to the question. “We have fliers, enhanced, gods, and super soldiers. Just tell us where you need us.” 

“Well perfect, any fliers you have need to take to the sky and bring down the plane that is hounding my familiar. Please don’t shoot the dragon. He’s the only family I have left. As for the gods, can they help me take out those submarines below the water or do I have to wait for them to surface?” 

“There are submarines!?” Peter exclaimed. 

“Whatever H.Y.D.R.A. wants, they want it bad” Bucky replied quietly. 

“What they want are my students and I to serve their cause willingly or not. Thus, the army on my shores. I have fought them off for the past hundred years, I refuse to fall to them now.” 

Tony cut in before they could continue to stay sidetracked, “Thor, Loki, do you both think you can take out those submarines? Or do they need to surface like she asked?” 

“Those machines are powerful, but they are no match for us, however, we would need some support in getting below water and not drowning” Loki said, shrugging into his armor. 

“I can get water mages to assist you. As for the enhanced and the super soldiers, I need them on the beach. My children cannot contain the waves of enemies for long.” 

“You heard the lady,” Steve said with a nod to Anaeluna, “let's get to it Avengers.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle continues...TW character death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a song in this chapter. If you want to see where my head was at when I was writing I would recommend that you play "Hide and Seek" by Lizz Robinett when it says to play the song.

Anaeluna looked on hopefully as four of the Avengers split off from the rest and joined Keiran in the air. With a small wave of her hand, a portal opened off the balcony of the lighthouse, her black and purple magic unwavering in the air. 

“Jump through that and you will land on the beach. Since you are walking out of one of my portals, my students will not attack you. Just let them know that you have orders from me to fight and to start bringing down the ice wall. You can coordinate attacks with them. They have been trained in almost every era of fight style from ancient Greek to guerilla tactics of the Vietcong. Figure out what works with them.” 

With that, the majority of the Avengers left through the portal leaving only Dr. Strange, Thor, Loki, Hawkeye, and Bruce. Stephen himself was scanning for all the magic in the area and wanted to question Anaeluna about her shields. 

“The magic in your shields, it's not any kind of magic I have ever encountered.” 

“It’s a specific magic to my kind, those shields will not break unless I die or leave the island.” 

"Understood, I will work my skills from here and if I am needed, I will move.” 

“Thank you, Stephen.” 

Bruce then interrupted, “so, I know there is a lot of chaos out there but I think I am going to stick with Thor and Loki and see if I can take out a submarine. Do you have enough water mages for three of us?” 

Anaeluna nodded and opened a portal behind her, “the archers almost all have water magic, I can pull a few of them off the back cliffs since those are the most stable.” 

“Perfect, and while you’re grabbing them, do you mind dropping me off there?” Clint asked, pulling his bow in front of him. “I would hate to stay out of a fight.” 

“Of course. If you will all follow me.” 

Anaeluna walked through her portal and onto a cliff face where archers were yelling to one another about when to fire and who to fire at when suddenly, a missile rocked the face of the cliff. The ground shook for a mere moment before actions were being taken once more. Magic being the more prominent ammo than actual bows. Clint quickly ran off without another word and began making himself useful. 

“Colin, Ryan, Teagan, Megan, Siobhan, and Warner, please come here!” 

As her students approached, she quickly informed them of their tasks. As a pair, they would each help an Avenger not only make it under the water, but assist them in taking out a submarine that threatened the island. 

“Colin, Teagan, and Siobhan are all water mages or can manipulate water in some way while Ryan, Megan, and Warner, are all telepathic and telekinetic magicians. They already know how to work as teams so they will each guide one of you to a destination and help you destroy a submarine.” 

“I count 4 submarines though, who is going to take out the last one?” 

“I will Megan. You already know you don’t have to worry about me.” 

“Yes Athrawes,” Megan replied, looking more secure in herself. 

“Now, Colin and Ryan, you will be joining Thor in going after his submarine. Teagan and Megan, you will be joining Loki in taking out his. And Siobahn and Warner, you have Hulk.” 

Three portals open up behind each of the teams and another behind Anaeluna herself. Bruce turns into the hulk while Loki steps forward and asks “do you not have partners for you as well?” 

“No, I do not need them.” 

With that simple reply she jumped backwards into the portal, emerging in the water, right below the submarine on the farthest point of the island. Once in the water her transformation began. Her skin went from a tanned brown shade to the grey that is seen on dolphins, her eyes turned from hazel green to the deepest black, the whites of her eyes disappearing completely. The armor transforming into a lightweight scale that protected all of her down to the rigid powerful tail that had swirling patterns that continued to move with every flex of the appendage. Her hands began touching the submarine’s metal walls, the webbed hands which ended in sharp talons using siren magic to find the hearts within. 

-play the song here- 

When she finally located a single sailor, she placed her face as close to the metal as possible and began releasing a song. The creepy little melody told her more about the villain within the ship than she ever wished to know. With a little pull, he began to still as he listened, drawn to her voice. As she commanded him to head to the hatch to open it, she followed, swimming along the outside, raking her talons along the hull. She could feel the confusion and horror of the mind caught in the heartsong she was singing. He was trying to fight her, his mind rebelling from the pull his heart and soul were demanding he follow. Luring him to the hatch, he managed to open it, causing her to fall inside with a typhoon of water. With water filling the ship, she continued to sing and he remained still as she waited for the water level to rise. Circling him, she used a single talon to draw blood, her black eyes tracking his chest hyperventilating as the water rose up to block his air. His mind was filling with the horrifying memories of the atrocities he committed to others, a demand that Anaeluna requested of his mind. His terror that the same be done to him, a sharp scent lingering in the blood, fueling her desire to feed. Once he was fully submerged and the final notes of the song escaped her lips, her teeth, which were pointed like that of a shark, latched onto his neck. With a sickening rip she tore his throat apart and devoured the soul that called out to her. 

-song over- 

Once her prey was dead and her siren sated, she started swimming through the quickly flooding submarine, using her talons to rip up any other soldiers she came across, none of which could match her speed or strength in the water. After finding the final living soul onboard, she left through one of the missile tubes and programmed one to be set off as she began to head back to the surface. Right before reaching the surface, her face transformed back to human and she emerged with a small breath and blink into the bright sunlight. When the submarine finally exploded it had sunk so deep into the ocean that only a small wave emerged and Anaeluna used her powerful tail to make her way toward the next submarine to see the progress. 

When she arrived, she saw that there was a giant rip in the metal hull, one of her students lingering by the hole and keeping the water from entering. Warner gave her a thumbs up and she swam away, heading for the next submarine. That vessel was sinking and Loki and her students were rising to the surface already, their mission complete. She moved on quickly, her tail moving her swiftly through the water to the beach where the fighting was located. As she emerged from the water, her body regaining its, human skin, leather armor, and legs she was met with a bloodbath. The fighting was worse than she thought. Boats had steadily been supplying more and more enemy soldiers and her students, while fighting bravely, were dropping like flies. Keiran kept attempting to circle around to assist those on the ground but the pilot was actually putting up more a fight than he was used to. The avengers who could fly were unable to offer him any assistance due to the fact that some of the soldiers were supplied with jet packs and they were dealing with their own aerial dogfights. 

Anaeluna leapt into the battle on the beach, her blades quickly making work of armor gaps and appendages that could be removed. For every corpse she came across of one of her students, she created two from H.Y.D.R.A. agents. It wasn’t until she was in the absolute thick of the fighting when she realized she allowed herself to get surrounded by enhanced enemies. Each of them circled her like a pack of vultures and the began unleashing wave after wave of magic as their friends prevented others from approaching. With a small grunt of effort, Anaeluna used her elemental magic to start lashing out at them in return. Between the barriers, her own internal healing, and the barrier against her body, there wasn’t much offensive magic she could output left to actually fight off a pack of 6 enhanced enemies. Eventually, her grunts became pants of exhaustion, their magic not waning as they continued to push her to her limit. Suddenly, a loud roar and a searing pain in her back had Anaeluna looking up towards the sky. Keiran, his right wing torn to shreds, was diving towards her, his face murderous. He transformed from a dragon to griffin, the smaller body diving faster towards the witch. They both knew her magic was waning eventually her shield would go down, his familiar instincts kicking in demanding he protect his bond mate. 

With a small yelp, her shield began cracking and she screamed to keep it from breaking completely. She knew Keiran wouldn’t stop even if she demanded he did, so she didn’t even try. She simply began to cry and thought with all her might, “I LOVE YOU” before another crack in her shield had her seeing stars. 

“Don’t cry for me. Don’t run from him. And let them see you. I love you too little one.” 

Those were the last words that rang through her head before the darkness overwhelmed her and her shields came down and she ended up in the comfort of the arms of her familiar, even as his screams sounded in her head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anaeluna broke, but this is merely the beginning

Anaeluna was in excruciating pain. She had briefly passed out in the arms of her familiar as they were blasted by the combined powers of several enhanced H.Y.D.R.A agents. She was overwhelmed by them for a brief moment before she felt the shattering of her familiar’s bond, it woke her instinctive fight or flight response and she exploded into a blast of purple and black magic. Rather than pick up her fallen blades, she was decimating everyone within range with magic that ripped out of her with inhuman screams. Her students quickly pulled back the Avengers and made sure they stayed away from the infuriated witch. They set up shields around themselves, the Avengers, and their own familiars who all watched as Anaeluna howled her way down the beach, not even leaving bodies in her wake. Stephen Strange opened a portal onto the beach, and shielded himself as her magic lashed out at him. Having known Anaeluna for a few years now, he understood she was in a state of complete disassociation. With a quick movement of his hand he set off a blinding flash in her direction, pulling a snarl from her throat, her teeth beginning to sharpen to points. With impressive speed, he managed to open portals beneath the shielded masses on the beach and brought them down to the caverns belowground. 

“What is happening up there?” 

Stephen looked over at the parent who came toward him, “her familiar is dead and she is in a destructive state. I need to go and stop her.” 

“Please don’t hurt her.” 

At the pleas of several students rising up to meet the quiet voice of the parent Stephen raises a hand for their attention, “I would never hurt her, but she does need to be subdued. I will advise our team once she has been and we can make arrangements afterwards. Wanda, I need you to come with me.” 

With that Stephen opened a new portal farther up the beach, well away from where she was still destroying anyone in her path. Wanda stood by his side; her eyes wide at the power she could feel emanating from the witch wreaking havoc. 

“Such raw power, I have not felt that much energy since I met Carol.” 

“Yes, the Ancient One and Wong told me about her. She has been living on this island for many, many years. She is ridiculously powerful and is normally in control of her powers, but the pain of losing her familiar has left her untethered. It is exploding out of her.” 

“I understand her pain, I felt the same way when I lost Pietro. I was not going to let myself be stopped either.” 

Stephen activates the suit Tony made for him, and quickly tells the rest of the team attacking the boats to avoid the beach. All except one. 

“Loki, we are going to need you down here. Wanda and I are not going to be able to contain her by ourselves.” 

“Understood.” 

The affirmative voice answered over the com and the next moment he was standing in front of Stephen, having teleported in. The magic enveloping the air around him caused him to stumble backwards for a brief moment, his eyes immediately landing on the rampaging witch half a mile down the beach. 

“Now I truly understand. What would you like me to assist with?” 

Stephen answered with a small tilt to the head as he kept his eyes trained on Anaeluna. 

“We are going to need to distract her. I would not recommend getting close to her however. I recommend illusions, her magic is lashing out at anything. The more you keep her occupied the closer I can bring in Wanda to subdue her mind. Once she has done that, I will send her to a pocket dimension for a few moments before placing her in the cradle so she can heal. VICTOR please have FRIDAY set up the cradle for immediate use. Bruce, can you go back and make sure to be waiting for me?” 

Once he got the affirmative from Dr. Banner, he signaled for Loki to go ahead and begin his assault. With a small shift he teleported closer to Anaeluna, well out of range for her magic and began focusing on the kind of spells he was trying to cast. Using the previously discarded bodies, he forced them up like puppets and then disguised them as illusions of himself, that way, a body actually fell when struck by her magic. All the H.Y.D.R.A. agents but one was still standing on the bloodied beach and Loki quickly disposed of him to use his body as a puppet as well. Satisfied that Anaeluna was completely distracted, Wanda and Stephen made their move simultaneously. Stephen used his magic to bind the witch while Wanda invaded her mind and demanded that she sleep. Darkness faded back in for Anaeluna and she went limp against her restraints, not fully unconscious but close enough to continue to moan in agony. With a small hand motion, the Sorcerer Supreme opened a portal and sent her through to a small dimension with very little air to make sure she actually passed out. When he brought her back out, he quickly opened another portal and moved her into the medbay where Bruce already had the cradle completely prepped for her. After applying a small sedative, he activated the cradle and it closed over her. 

Stephen left Bruce to do the necessary check up through the cradle sensors and made his way back to the island. 

“Tony, are all the ships destroyed yet?” 

“You wanted them destroyed Duchess? We figured we would keep some of them alive to see if we could interrogate them into letting us know where the rest of H.Y.D.R.A is.” 

“I am not in a forgiving mood today. They tried to abduct children and they severely hurt a friend of mine. Destroy all but one ship,” Stephen declared. 

As he walked up the beach, he noticed a lot of the students were injured, but the healers among them were using magic to stop the worst of the wounds. The Avengers among them trying to keep them calm as they stayed alert for any further threats. Stephen walked up to them and gestured for them to join him away from the students. 

“Their leader is hurt. She is in the cradle. I don’t know when she will wake up. How many of them can still fight?” 

“Not many,” Natasha answers, keeping her voice quiet, “most, if not all of them are teenagers coming into their gift. They have had training but, without a teacher, I doubt most of them would be able to survive another attack.” 

“Not only that, but the magical barrier around the island is gone. The only thing keeping this island secret from the rest of the human world has vanished. These students would not be safe here on their own,” Loki said, looking over at the students. 

“We could always house them at the compound,” Steve offered. 

“We should let them decide. I would hate to make decisions for them, especially since it was violence that is forcing them to move from their home,” Bucky whispered, placing a hand on Steve’s arm. 

“We will give them options,” Stephen replied. 

Stephen walked over to the students and requested if they could ask everyone down in the bunker to join them on the surface. Once they had all joined them, and the Avengers had made quick work of the boats, Stephen addressed the crowd. 

“Your teacher, as you saw was severely injured physically as well as mentally and we have no idea when she will recover. Seeing as her shield was the only thing keeping your island a secret and keeping you safe, we believe it would be best to move elsewhere in the meantime. For those of you with magic, we can provide you with housing and training in Kamar-Taj. For those of you who are mutants and enhanced there is always a place for you with Xavier’s school for the gifted. Anyone who does not want to go with either can go and stay in the Avenger’s compound. I know most of you in the final stages of your training are aware that you would either go to the X-men or the sorcerers, that is what she trains you for after all so we leave the decision up to you. We only believe this would be temporary until your teacher is back on her feet and can establish a new home for you. Those of you who want to go with the X-men can walk over to where Spiderman is, his suit will record your names and get in contact with Professor Xavier to advise him on what is happening. Everyone who wants to go to the Avenger compound can go over to Captain America. Finally, anyone who was planning on joining the Masters of the Mystic Arts can come with me. Does anyone have any questions?” 

“Is athrawes safe?” 

Steve quickly responded the voice in the crowd, “for now, yes your teacher is safe. She just needs to recover, right Stephen?” 

“Exactly, we have taken her somewhere where she will be able to recover. I know with witches, losing a familiar is a harrowing experience. It will take time, but we will make sure she is ok and can find a way to contact all of you.” 

“Thank you,” the student who spoke responded. 

As the crowd also thanked the Avengers, they all began moving to their designated areas. The majority of the students ended up with Stephen, knowing that Kamar-Taj fit most of their needs as well as would not impede their lessons. About 20 of them went and stood next to Peter who dutifully did as he was told and was in contact with Professor Xavier almost instantly. Only a handful of people actually wanted to go to the compound as Steve stood there, the 12 or so people gathered around him were mostly adults and their children. 

Hours later, after they finally dropped off the final set of students, the Avengers all headed back to the tower, exhaustion settling in. Cassie had made sure dinner was waiting for them and the children were all occupied with activities that were quiet. Everyone was dirty and starving, devouring the home-made meal in silence. Bruce joined them towards the end of the meal and advised that while her physical state was stable, her brain was causing some interesting readings. 

“We should definitely keep an eye on her. If she wakes up in an odd state, I would hate for her to wake up alone.” 

“Good idea, we can do it in shifts,” Steve suggested. 

“I’ll take first watch, I’m not tired,” Bucky said, reclining back in his chair. 

“Alright then, everyone else, get some rest. We definitely earned it today,” Stephen sighed. 

____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Anaeluna felt like she was floating. She wasn’t in her typical body of water, no, this felt thicker. Like a bog instead of a lake, the rank stickiness against her skin made her recoil and demand to wake up. She thrashed and screamed and still felt unable to move, so she began using her magic, the water unresponsive to her demands to release her. Closing her eyes, she continued to struggle till a mechanical sound filled her ears and she gave one final thrash, her arm making an impact against something metallic. Opening her eyes, she noticed the coffin-like machine she was in and began freaking out, she was captured. With a giant burst of energy she forced the top of the coffin open and lights quickly blinded her and a shocked face filled her vision. With a strong enough burst of magic, she tossed him into the far wall, and attempted to get out of the machine. Her legs gave out from beneath her and she fell to the floor. With a ferocious effort she maneuvered herself to her feet and began walking as quickly as she could out of the room. As she turned a corner, a man holding a tray of food spotted her and his blue eyes went wide. As he attempted to speak, she saw the metal arm and remembered her history of H.Y.D.R.A., recognizing the Winter Soldier, she said a quick spell and he dropped the tray. As he fell to his knees, the air leaving his lungs, he grasped onto his throat with the metal hand as the other raised itself in the air in surrender. 

“Bucky!” 

The voice came from behind her, and Anaeluna did not even think twice. She released the spell and ran, sending the tray flying in the direction of the voice, a small grunt of pain the only sound following her. She needed to escape from this place but the highways were all confusing. Finding a stairwell, she quickly started making her way down to the ground floor noticing she must have been in some kind of skyscraper because she the number on the wall said floor 80. By the time she reached floor 75 others managed to make it into the stairwell below her so she hopped back into the main part of the building to find a place to hide. That’s when she heard it, a soft melody coming from down the hallway. Like a balm to her shattered mind she moved toward it instinctually, forgetting about the chase. 

She followed the music down to a room that was filled with instruments and artist easels, the melody trickled from a piano in the corner, isolated from the rest of the room. Anaeluna’s focus was purely on the music and did not notice the girl standing by one of the violins in a separate corner, or notice the magic she began to prepare as a precaution. Her entire perception was on the young child playing the piano, the song one of heartbreak and hope. The phrases of Moonlight Sonata flew through the air and soothed the mental distress, Anaeluna finally let herself sag, the pain and turmoil becoming background noise to the piano. Walking over to the wall, she lets herself lean against it before lowering herself to the ground and closing her eyes, all of the fight leaving her at once. She does not notice when the older girl walks over to the younger one to tell her to keep playing the same song or when a team arrives on the same floor. She only opens her eyes when Stephen Strange is kneeling in front of her, hand on one of her knees and the kindest look in his eyes he can muster. 

“You’re safe here, but you need to get back to the medlab. Your body isn’t fully recovered yet” he says quietly. 

Anaeluna nods and looks down before responding, “I didn’t hurt anyone innocent, did I?” 

“No, you did not. I actually was amazed by your restraint. Though I would not have thought twice about it if you had sent Loki to the medbay with you” Stephen chuckled in reply. 

Standing, he holds out a hand for her to take and she accepts it with a groan. She leans against him as he shuffles her toward the elevator, where a small group of people are waiting. She recognizes Doctor Banner and the Scarlet Witch, but not the young boy with the warm brown eyes who was talking to the elder girl with care. Anaeluna allowed herself to be led back up to the medbay, Doctor Banner’s and Doctor Strange’s voices continuing to soothe the ache in her soul, which she knew would not be going away any time soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, sorry for disappearing off the face of the earth, COVID and depression has not been a good mix. Luckily I am battling through it and managed to get another chapter out. I also made sure to make it a long one :)

Anaeluna woke up again a few hours later, feeling rested, in a medbay bed, Stephen and Tony quietly talking close to the door. She groaned as her magic flared painfully, the whiplash of overuse punishing her for extending it. 

“Ah, so you’re officially awake this time. How do you feel after some sleep?” Stephen asked, coming to sit in a chair by the bed as she sat up in bed. 

“Like I was hit by a truck Stephen. What happened? I didn’t hurt anyone, did I? My magic is furious with me, but at least the monster is quiet” Anaeluna replied as her eyes tracked Tony coming to stand next to the chair Stephen sat in. 

“Well, at least you’re not dissociated this time, poor Bruce got tossed across a room the first time you woke up” Tony chimed in. “He’s fine, and so is Bucky who you were force choking out.” 

“Tony.” Stephen cut off with a stern tone, “Behave, she has been through a lot” Turning back to Aneluna he said gently, “no one was seriously hurt, but I do believe we got lucky you were in flight mode rather than fight.” 

Anaeluna sighed, shame coursing through her system as well as relief that she did not harm anyone innocent. 

“Where are my students?” 

“We split them up, some of them are in Kamar-Taj, some chose to go with Xavier, and other are currently at the Avengers Compound.” 

“Ok...well at least they are all safe and sound. Did any of them die?” 

Stephen sat on the chair next to the bed and placed his hand face up on the bed, a small gesture in case she wanted the comfort. 

“No, some were injured but they are being well taken care of. Now it is time to focus on you. You need to be healed” 

“The moment I am able to, I will head back to the island, I do not want to impose” Anaeluna stated. 

“Yeah, that’s not an option. The island was partially destroyed. The mountains that bordered the coast line were decimated in the attack, the beaches are covered in blood and some of the fighting was so bad that some of the woods on the island were set on fire as well.” 

“I was actually hoping that you would agree to either stay here or at Kamar-Taj. I want to keep an eye on you. Your magic is fairly unstable” Stephen chimed in. 

“Yes, the loss of my familiar has destroyed the tether to my magic, I need to learn to regain control again without a new familiar” she said with a wobble to her lip. 

“Oh yeah, I meant to ask. Stephen tried to explain but what is a familiar? Why would the loss of that dragon thing we saw have any effect on you?” 

“Tony, that question...” Stephen admonished. 

“No,” Anaeluna interrupted. “It's ok, he is like any of my students, curious. I never stifle curiosity, in fact, much like the Ancient One, I encouraged it. So, from what I gather is that you understand Stephen’s magic, right? 

Tony nodded and explained what he knew of the magic by used of the Masters of the Mystic Artes. 

“Alright, that’s good. I, however, am not a sorcerer, I am a witch and a siren and unlike their magic, mine is elemental in nature. I pull it from the 5 natural elements, fire, water, earth, fire, and spirit. I have been alive since the late 1400’s and have spent the last 150 years on that island training children to either become warriors or diplomats. The one thing they all have to learn is to master their magic, and the way that I used to do that was to spar with each and every one of them every day. While that kept my magic well used and in practice, my familiar, who was actually a puka, not a dragon, kept the worst of my magic in check.” Putting a hand up to stall the question about to come out of Tony’s mouth, “A puca is a fairy, a shapeshifter of sorts. He was the last of his kind on the island, and he allowed me to stay when I was running from H.Y.D.R.A. He and I had a magical bond, much like your soulmate bond with Stephen, and whenever I was unable to use up enough of my power to keep it reigned in, he would start expending it. To keep it simple, he was like an extension of my mind and body that I lost. I basically lost a limb and now have to learn to live again without it. With my age and the kind of magic I have it is going to be difficult. The longer a witch lives, the more powerful her magic becomes, not to mention the other part of me. 

“Yeah, you mentioned you were part siren. Do we need to have some sort of backup plan for if you lose control or something?” Tony asked, curiosity apparent in his voice without a hint of malice. “It would not be the first time I would have to make a backup plan to stop a friend. I have it for all the Asgardians, the Hulk, and even Stephen here.” 

“That might actually be a good idea. For that though, I would definitely need to explain how my power works and then eventually test it...which is going to be the dangerous part.” 

Stephen cut in, “while I agree, we can focus on that secondary part at a later date. For now, we just need to get your powers under control again. How would be the best way to help you?” 

“Right now, my powers are basically empty, the backlash of overusing them is punishing me and they will start coming back in slow bursts. The best way to get them back under control is to expend them till exhaustion until they can start rebuilding back to peak strength. Much like someone who lost a leg and has to learn to walk on a prosthesis, the more you train, the stronger the leg. It will be slow at first, and dangerous as my power will remain unstable for a while, but it can be controlled with the right partner.” 

“Ok, that’s fine, we can have you and Stephen train in the tantrum room we have for the hulk. Its fireproof and made of adamantium so you can’t destroy it” Tony provided as a suggestion. 

Anaeluna began to shake her head, “Stephen is not a good partner for me. I need someone versed in more elemental than arcane magic. Besides, with my age, I would overpower him, unless we were in the mirror dimension, and I cannot use my magic in there.” 

“Age is the biggest factor when it comes to selecting a teacher for her, Tony. There is only one logical choice and that is Loki.” 

Tony looked at Stephen like he grew a second head, “no offense, but why not Wanda? You’ve said before she has a lot of power.” 

“Wanda has a lot of power, but she is not the best when it comes to control. And her power also comes from the stones, it is not a natural gift. Ultimately, the only match is Loki” Stephen reiterated with a hand to the bridge of his nose. 

“Stephen, I know what happened in New York with Loki, why do you see this as a problem? I have handled plenty of troubled individuals in my time. Loki should be no different” she asked, reaching out to the doctor who looked like he was getting a headache. 

“While Loki has behaved for the last two years while he has been here, he is still causing a bit of trouble with pranks and not taking everything as seriously as we would like. I am not sure I can convince him to be your sparring partner” Stephen replied. 

“Oh, don’t worry about reindeer games Tesoro, I'll convince him” 

With a reassuring pat on the shoulder Tony walked out to go find Loki and Stephen released a sigh before facing Anaeluna again. Observing the dark circles under her eyes and being able to see her hands visibly shake with the exhaustion of her abused powers his worry made him find his voice. 

“Do you think Loki will be able to handle your output? Without Keiran, it is going to be hard for you to control yourself. Especially the siren, she is going to take a lot of reigning in.” 

Looking down at her shaking hands, she replied in a quiet voice, “if Tony cannot find a way to keep everyone safe from the siren, then it will be up to you to subdue me. Loki should be able to handle it, he has his own issues, but if he is anything like the stories I have heard, he will do fine against me. Losing control is what I am afraid of, only those who are soulbound have a semblance of safety and even that is not a guarantee with the siren. Without Keiran to mimic my soulbond or finding my soulmate to complete the bond, the siren will always be hungry now. I will have to release her in increasing intervals and we have no way of doing that safely here in the middle of the city.” 

“Well, that is not exactly true. You are more than welcome to help the avengers when we go fight and you can maybe get her some exercise...” 

“Stephen, you know that is too dangerous...if I lose control with her, I could be the next villain you have to stop. We need to find another way.” 

“We will.” 

With that, Stephen stood up from the chair and told her to get some rest. He advised her that once the shaking and physical backlash stopped, she would be moved to her new room in the tower. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________ 

The next day Anaeluna was moved to her bedroom on the Asgardian floor. She was introduced to both Loki, Bruce, and Thor, the former simply nodding his head in greeting before going back to the book he was reading on the couch in their shared space. Thor however was livelier and shook her hand so emphatically that she thought he might rattle her brain. He gushed about how amazing her powers were and how he could see how such a strong warrior would be placed on their floor. Bruce, who had also been her doctor throughout her recovery process and would continue to do so just quietly showed her around the floor he shared with the other two. He explained that his original bedroom was actually located on the same floor as the medbay, but after the events of the snap he wanted to move to a floor with a close friend. It seemed like everyone had nightmares, even after 5 years after the occurrence. 

Eventually, in the quiet of her new room, she was also introduced to FRIDAY and VICTOR, the AI’s that ran the technology of the tower. With a few prompts she was able to not only change the light settings in her room to be dimmed but to also set a reminder to get up in 3 hours to go up to the top floor for her first family dinner, as Stephen called it. When she emerged from her room, Thor was also on his way up so he offered to escort her to the family floor. 

When the elevator door opened, a scene of controlled chaos greeted her. A young, brown haired man lifted a couch straight into the air and was following the directions of a young woman with a smaller child on her hip. A delightful smell filled the air and raucous laughter could be heard from what Anaeluna assumed was the kitchen area. 

“Forgive the chaos milady, it looks like we are early, set up has not been finished yet” Thor explained with a sheepish smile. 

Suddenly, a lithe black man called out for Thor to come help with the dining table, and Thor excused himself from Anaeluna’s side with a bellow that he was on his way. Stephen, spotted her standing by the elevator with a confused look on her face and came over to save her. 

“I apologize, this is not how I wanted you to be introduced to the family.” 

“I would have expected any home you run to be a little more controlled, like Kamar-Taj, this is certainly different” Anaeluna smiled to herself. 

“True, but this chaos is home. I wouldn’t trade it for the world” Stephen replied, the smile on his face one of serene peace. “If you get overwhelmed by the introductions, just let me know. I do not want to overload you on your first actual night here.” 

“This is looking more and more like an introductory night for a new student. On the island it would be a miracle if there is not a food fight. I actually miss it.” 

With a chuckle, Stephen replied, “don’t count out a food fight, my children can get pretty rowdy.” 

A few moments pass before Thor and Captain America in civilian clothes come around a corner with a very large wooden table. Placing it down where the couch originally was, they step back before the captain lets out a shrill whistle and suddenly, a boy is leaping from the ceiling with a tablecloth to spread along the table. 

“Alright, bro, you’re next.” 

With that prompt, another young man came out balancing dinner plates and a little girl rounded the corner, practically bouncing in his shadow. 

“Ready Dia” the man balancing the plates asked? 

“Ready!” 

“Go!” 

With a shout to start, the young man began tossing plates toward the table, and the young girl began levitating them into appropriate places. With a raise of an eyebrow, Anaeluna looked over at Stephen who was watching with immense concentration on the child levitating the plates. He raised a hand, preparing to intervene if she missed one, but eventually they were all placed on the table. 

“Those were my children. The rambunctious one who jumped on the table was Peter. The dynamic plate duo were Harley and his younger sister Diana. The young woman over there is Cassie Lang, she is holding my youngest child Valerie.” 

“Peter was on the island with us, if I am remembering his face correctly” Anaeluna said, her eyes narrowing to try and focus on Peter’s face. 

“He was. He has been a hero since he was sixteen, and while I wish he wasn’t an avenger sometimes, he is an integral member” Stephen said with pride. 

Tony then stepped out of the kitchen holding a massive tray of silverware, after he placed it on the table, he told the children to go and wash up for dinner. As the children ran off, Tony went to join the two adults standing just to the side of the elevator. 

“I see you just saw the dinner show our kids like to put on. They feel the need to train at all points in the day. They get that from their mother. Genius intellect comes from me.” 

“Stubbornness and an addiction to coffee as well, but we manage just fine” Stephen side joked into Anaeluna’s ear causing her to giggle. 

“Alright, duchess, no need to tell all of my vices. Anyway, you already met Thor, the man who helped him carry in our massive family table was Captain America, aka Steve Rogers. The walking mouthpiece over there is the avenger known as Falcon, but we just call him Sam. Bucky, aka, the Winter Soldier, who we lovingly renamed the White Wolf, is cooking dinner in the kitchen with Wanda, our resident Scarlet Witch” Tony explained, pointing to anyone who was in view. 

The elevator opened up behind the trio and two men walked out, one massive in size, the other lithe and small. 

“Ah Tic Tac, Porcupine, you two haven’t met the newest addition to the tower yet. Anaeluna, this is Peter Quill and his diminutive boyfriend, Scott Lang. Fellas, this is Anaeluna” Tony introduced with a flippant wave of his hand. 

“Nice to meet you,” Quill said with a smile. 

“Likewise,” Anaeluna replied with a nod. 

“Overwhelmed yet?” Scott asked, a knowing grin on his face. 

“Not yet,” she chuckled, “but the night is still young.” 

“Well then, let's go find you a seat before the walking tanks take all the good ones” Scott joked, “after all, most of these gods and super soldiers can eat entire feasts by themselves.” 

“Lead the way,” Anaeluna motioned for Scott to move ahead. 

With one last look back at Stephen, she followed Scott over to the table where the men were placing down the chairs. Thor pulled out a chair for Anaeluna in the middle of the table, and with a nod from Scott, she sat down before Thor tucked the chair back in for her. Keeping the conversation light with more introductions Anaeluna was introduced to Cassie Lang, Peter, and Harley. The young adults of the group reminded Anaeluna of her students and her magic flared in response, but she quickly composed herself. Stephen and Tony soon approached the table and discussion moved over to how the student’s college courses were going. 

Little by little, more people trickled out of the elevator. Bruce entered in an animated discussion with Vision, the android’s face impassive and expressionless. Clint and Natasha were whispering to themselves about something and went to sit over on the couches to try and finish their conversation before dinner began. The last person to walk in was Loki. Once he joined the group at the table, everyone else began sitting down and was given their introduction to Anaeluna. The last two places at the table which were empty belonged to the cooks who suddenly, with some magic appeared with many plates of levitating food. Wanda and Bucky balanced plates in both hands and the witch carried more with her magic. The feast included various meats, 2 types of pastas, rice and even a tureen of soup. 

“Since we did not know what our knew resident wanted to eat, we made a little bit of everything” Wanda explained as she placed down the last of the food. 

“Thank you, this looks amazing...I am sorry to put you through any trouble...” Anaeluna said, slightly overwhelmed by the attention. 

“Seriously, its fine. Almost every newcomer has a feast when they decide to come stay at the tower. Wanda and I were also not the only ones who were cooking. Tony made the pastas, Mama Bear made the roast beef, we do everything as a family” Bucky replied, his face breaking into a smile. 

“Mama bear?” Anaeluna asked. 

“That would be me” Stephen began explaining, “when I officially moved into the tower as Tony’s lover, he had already adopted Peter. One night while Peter was coming home from patrol as Spiderman, he called me mom out of exhaustion and the name ended up sticking.” 

“And now, everyone does it because of how much of a mother hen he actually is” Harley slyly finished. 

“I would never have imagined Stephen Strange, the man I observed years ago dropping students off at Kamar-Taj would be called a mother hen, stranger things have happened I suppose” Anaeluna shrugged. 

“Alright, if everyone is done talking about me, I know there are plenty of super soldiers and mutants dying to eat. Everyone, dig in” Stephen admonished. 

As dinner finally began Anaeluna finally understood why Scott advised her to sit in the middle of the table. Platters were lifted and massive amounts of food were removed before being passed to someone else. Sitting in the middle, she was able to scoop food onto her plate before the platters were lifted away reminding her very much of dessert time back on the island. Eventually conversation started back up again, mostly asking about her island and how she trained the children. She told them stories about certain mishaps and the occasional prank war. Eventually the topic turned to her however, and she could no longer deviate from the subject. 

“So, how old are you?” 

“Harley!” Stephen admonished, “you know that is never an appropriate question for a woman.” 

“Oh, come on! I don’t mean it like she’s old, I only want to know because she said she was on that island for over 100 years” Harley exclaimed defensively, lowering his voice he added to Anaeluna, “I honestly apologize if I offended you.” 

“Do not worry Harley, I wasn’t offended. Like you, that is sometimes the very first question my students ask when they start training. I was one of the people who turned to dust in the time of Thanos, so my actual age is 539 years old” Anaeluna explained with a kind smile. 

“Mommy said you were like a mermaid, do all mermaids live that long?” Diana piped up; her eyes riveted on Anaeluna. 

“If you are referring to the Disney movie, the Little Mermaid, I am more like the sea witch Ursula than Ariel, un bach. I am a siren, more of a creature than a person, really” Anaeluna replied. 

Her magic began to itch beneath her skin and she was trying to 

“You’re Welsh?” Steve asked. 

“My mother was Welsh. Do you speak the language?” 

“She used to call me un bach all the time, but I can’t remember what it stands for...” Steve plaintively said. 

“It means little one. I forget that my familiar is not around anymore to translate what I say,” Anaeluna got a faraway look in her eyes as she spoke of her familiar. “Kieran used to explain all the vocabulary to my students.” 

With that small admission her magic flared painfully and her fire element consumed her. For a brief moment, Anaeluna was lit aflame like a beacon before she quickly snuffed it out. The flash fire was not hot, just a brief explosion of flame that startled everyone. With a few quick, deep breaths, the witch brought her flames back under control. 

“Are you ok?” Bucky asked, preparing to jump out of his seat. 

“Holy crap!” Sam exclaimed; he had been sitting right next to her. 

“She’s fine!” Scott yelled above the noise. “She’s just injured. Relax everyone.” 

“I’m sorry. Thinking of my familiar is still painful. Not to mention that my elemental magic is still surging and ebbing at erratic times. This is why I need to train to gain back control like we were discussing earlier” Anaeluna contritely whispered. 

“I accept training you. We begin tomorrow.” Loki curtly responded. 

With a nod in Loki’s direction Anaeluna began to eat again when the question she was dreading was brought up. 

“So, what is Siren magic like?” 

Cassie was the one who asked the question, her own fledgling magic probing innocently around the witch’s magic. 

“It is vastly different from yours. Like I said, I am more like Ursula the sea witch than Ariel. Unlike Ursula though, instead of becoming a wriggling octopus, I do look a little like a mermaid. My magic however doesn’t steal voices, it takes souls.” 

“Ok, but how? How do you sing underwater?” Harley probed. 

Stephen held up a hand and interjected, “you do not have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable.” 

“Though we are all curious,” Tony added. 

“Sirens, like mythology explains does in fact use singing to bewitch others. The song however, depends on the person. Everyone has two songs inside them, one in their heart, and one in their head. The song in their heart never changes and is generally tied to the person’s soul mate. Since soul mates protect each other, hearing these heart songs are difficult and generally if I don’t do it right, it could hurt me, so I never listen for heart songs. Instead I look for the other song, the one in the head. Songs in your head are songs that strike you emotionally, the one’s you constantly go back to and love. Like Diana and Moonlight Sonata, it has a special connection to you, which is why it was able to calm me down from my disassociated state. Luckily, since the song is one without lyrics, I can’t bewitch you with it. Others would not be so lucky...in fact songs change on a regular basis when they are in your head because the more music you know, the bigger your musical inventory becomes.” 

“So, if you were to try and listen to our songs right now, could you tell whose belongs to who?” Quill asked. 

“It would be hard, some of you have soulmates so the sound is drowned out by your heart song. Like Stephen and Tony, and Scott and You, your soulmate songs are so enmeshed that if I were to try to listen, it would hurt. However, Cassie and Peter over here are a fledgling relationship so their heartsongs are still at regular levels, so I could potentially hear their head songs. All in all, the couples in the group are protected more than those that do not have a partner. The unpaired I could hear clearly, but it would take me a while to pinpoint whose song is whose, but I wouldn’t want to practice that right here and right now,” Anaeluna cautioned. 

“What does it sound like?” Natasha questioned. 

“To me, it sounds like a radio being tuned. At first it is white noise in the background. I hear it all the time but since I am not focusing on it, it is just in the background. The more I focus, the clearer I can hear the song. Eventually the song begins to play as if it is being played right in front of me. If the song has a strong emotional connection, I can usually hear the person singing along to the song.” 

With that, the conversation went back to neutral topics and dinner ended without another incident. As everyone began returning to their own floors, Anaeluna went up the elevator with Loki. His tall form standing slightly in front of her only allowed her to see his profile, not really giving her a sense of his facial expression. He spoke so quietly she barely heard him. 

“I will meet you tomorrow morning in the common area. Do you have any objections to waking up at dawn?” 

“None at all, I will see you in the morning” Anaeluna responded, her voice matching his tone. 

With a nod, Loki exited the elevator at a brisk pace, quickly entering his room and leaving Anaeluna looking at a closed door with a confused expression. 

“If you are worried that you angered my brother in some way, please do not think so” Thor began as he walked toward Anaeluna from his room. “He generally does not converse with many here because of his previous actions on Midgard. Not many have forgiven him.” 

“That was no fault of his however, his mind was enslaved.” 

“And yet, people still refuse to accept the good in him, so he keeps to himself to avoid making others uncomfortable” Thor continued. 

“Well, I understand and I hold no resentment. In fact, I hope to become a friend...if he will allow it, there is much he could teach me” Anaeluna explained. 

“I wish you luck, my lady.” 

With a soft, but firm pat on the shoulder, Thor walked past Anaeluna and back onto the elevator leaving her standing in the middle of the hallway. Softly walking past the doorways to the bedrooms, she went exploring the rest of their floor and discovered a small library. The library was cozy and full of armchairs, tables and even a couch in one of the corners. With a sigh and smile, Anaeluna began browsing the shelves and eventually found a book she wanted to read. Rather than staying in the library, she retired to her room and read until she eventually fell asleep.


End file.
